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Trump’s speech to the Islamic leaders will usher in an old beginning.

By Ted Belman.

On May 18th I published Trump’s Plan to destroy radical Islam in which I showed that his policy from day one was to defeat the ideology that informed it and drove it. He was going to demand that Saudi Arabia and the other states join him in this fight.

Unfortunately, his deference to the Arabs has allowed them to pay lip service only.

First he didn’t want to upset them by moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem or recognizing that the Kotel was in Jerusalem and therefore in Israel. First he said he had to ask them for their opinion and then he decided not to visit the Kotel.

Rather that making serious demands on the Arabs in his upcoming speech in Saudi Arabia next week, the current draft of the speech shows him to be an appeaser rather than a demander. Associated Press reports;

— President Donald Trump will use his first visit to the Middle East to call for unity in the fight against radicalism in the Muslim world, casting the challenge as a “battle between good and evil” and urging Arab leaders to “drive out the terrorists from your places of worship,” according to a draft of the speech obtained by The Associated Press.

envisions new partnerships with America’s traditional allies in the Middle East. It notably refrains from mentioning democracy and human rights — topics Arab leaders often view as US moralizing — in favor of the more limited goals of peace and stability.

The draft of the speech includes no mention of “radical Islamic terrorism” — His speech calls terrorism a widespread problem plaguing everyone who loves peace.

“This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects or different civilizations. This is a battle between those who seek to obliterate human life and those who seek to protect it,” the text reads. “This is a battle between good and evil.”

White House officials have said they consider Trump’s visit, and his keynote address, a counterweight to President Obama’s debut speech to the Muslim world in 2009 in Cairo.

Unlike the Obama administration, which distanced itself from authoritarian leaders and took a moral stance against the human rights violations that in many cases fueled resentment and extremism, Trump is focusing on deal-making.

By contrast, Trump hails America’s friendship with Saudi Arabia, which “stretches back many decades, and covers numerous dimensions.” It is a markedly different message from his campaign tweet that said “Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays.”

This tone makes it a kumbaya speech just like Obama’s speech was. The only difference is that Trump wasn’t on an apology tour like Obama was. I was expecting a more robust speech in which he demanded that the Islamic ideology that promote jihad be rejected. No hint of toughness here.

I wonder if this is the influence of McMaster and Tillerson both of whom think Islam is a religion of peace.

The focus is on terrorism, in order to zero in on Iran and Hezbollah. This is NOT a kumbaya speech. Not when the USA is bombing to stop Hezbollah from replacing ISIS in southern Syria

You overlook the fact that the Saudis are the most prolific sponsor of Islamic radical terrorism in the world…. The Saudis along with CIA created ISIS… You overlook that Islam is the problem and using the prefix (Radical) obscures the real nature of the disease. Iran is the real existential threat to the west not ISIS… ISIS created to topple Iranian surrogate Assad and to stop Iranian drive for regional hegemony. Is is not in the interest of America and the West including Israel to let ISIS continue to fight Syria Hezbollah and Russia? Fight ISIS everywhere but Syria. Don’t need no Saudi Arabia or Sunni NATO for that. Ted is correct Trump has turned into a democrat wimp…. Trump allowed the Saudis to bribe him with mega deals and much pomp and circumstance and he loves the show. It’s not like the Saudis have an alternative. Putin turned their overtures down in favor of Iran. Now that Trump has picked up the mantel of Protector of the Saudi Family they don’t need Israel and I suspect they will backtrack on understandings with Israel. They don’t need us and we don’t need them practically…. They could buy most of Israel for chump change and already are invested in real estate market.

In 6 months of Trump ‘ s presidency we have observed a character who despite claiming he is a patriot ” a minuteman ” , is rather ” a micro-second ” leader ; The sense of medias-pressure-frenzy-tit-for-a-tat is what drives Donald Trump . He lacks knowledge, experience, convictions , and he does not want to learn , he just want to react . That behavior spells a very bad end , especially in the mideast , where the cultural frame is set by thousands old years claims and the political game is played upon ages-old differences . Unfortunately his team does not show any Kissinger , or Foster Dulles or Cyrus Vance. Bland managers, with inflated egos like the boss. To focus on Israel & Saudi Arabia , Israel ( and Jordan too ) is the lock which protects saudi Arabia from the northern Iranian-syrian-russian envelopment maneuver . Egypt , in the same way protect the airway lanes of Saudi Arabia towards europe , and the red sea shipping lane . The more Trump and his team swing from one formula to the other the more the iranian-syrian-russian gang will find some breach in the map.